Fading Scars
by luminare91
Summary: After Oliver is branded by Zod, he and Chloe are forced to reevaluate their relationship. Will she be able to handle what she is feeling, or will Oliver push her into a relationship she isn't ready for? One and two shots written as a multi-chapter fic.
1. Fresh Wounds: Part 1

**Title:** Fading Scars

**Rating:** PG. Some mature themes and mild language. Nothing too serious though.

**Summary:** Chloe keeps vigil at Oliver's bedside, trying to deal with her emotions, after he is branded by Zod.

**Warning:** None at this point in time, but I only have a rough outline of the fic, so that may change.

**Spoilers:** Season 9, specifically Sacrifice.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the Smallville characters. I'm just playing with them. Please don't sue.

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

The only sound in the room was the beeping of the machines and the distant chatter of nurses going about their rounds. The room was dark, lit only by the light streaming through the doorway and the luminescent green numbers on the machines. It was late, almost midnight. She really shouldn't be there, but no one had the heart to throw her out. One look at her face would tell them why she was there. She looked heartbroken and the fire was missing from her eyes. Considering who's bedside she was keeping vigil at, they were willing to cut her some slack.

His tan skin and toned muscles were obscured by the large white bandage taped across his torso. There was an IV in his arm and a pulse monitor clamped to one finger. The blankets were drawn up to just below the bandage and tucked around him. His chest was rising and falling slowly. Coupled with the sound of the heart monitor, it was the only sign that he was still alive at all. The life that he usually seemed filled with, was missing.

Chloe shifted in the uncomfortable chair, trying to relieve the pressure on her lower back. She was stiff and sore from sitting there for so long. Under the best of circumstances, she'd have been stiff from sitting for so many days on end, but she'd already been sore from fighting Tess and escaping from the Checkmate agents at Watchtower. The break in had been days before. She'd barely left his side since discovering that Oliver was in the hospital.

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><p><em>Rubbing her hand tiredly over her face, Chloe walked out of the room she'd killed Tess in, never mind that she'd also brought her back to life and the other woman had already left another way. Watchtower had been lost. The information was still there. The system had been designed to dump all of the databases into secure servers in case of emergency, but all the hardware had destroyed in their escape attempt. The prospect of rebuilding was daunting, even for her.<em>

_When she looked up, she caught sight of Clark, staring worriedly after a group of doctors wheeling away a patient on a gurney. Chloe couldn't see who it was, but the look on Clark's face almost stopped her heart. She ran down the hall as fast as her tired legs could carry her._

_"What happened?" she demanded._

_Clark turned to her, surprised to see her. "What are you doing here, Chloe?"_

_She rolled her eyes. "I'll tell you later. Why are you here?"_

_He looked uncomfortable. "Um...I brought Oliver in. He...he went to the Luthor mansion and ran into Zod."_

_"Oh my God," she gasped, pressing a hand to her mouth. "What happened to him?"_

_Clark didn't answer, but guilt crossed his face. Letting out a sound of exasperation, Chloe spun on her heel and left her standing in the hallway while she went to find someone who could tell her what had happened to Oliver._

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><p>Since then, he'd been in and out of surgery almost half a dozen times. The doctors had stabilized him, then they had set to work making sure the burn hadn't gotten infected. They'd excised the dead skin and applied grafts to keep out further infection. They were doing everything they could to keep the scaring minimal and had assured her that with laser skin treatments once the burn was fully healed, it would barely be noticeable. The doctors said that the psychological effects of such a large scar on such a visible area of a person's body, especially under the circumstances it had been received - apparently Clark had said that Oliver told him he was attacked by someone before passing out, but that he hadn't been there to see it - could be incredibly damaging. Despite his vanity, Chloe knew that Oliver would wear the scar as a badge of courage, not as a mark of shame, so she wasn't worried about his pride. As grateful as she was that Oliver wouldn't have to live with that reminder of Zod's sadistic nature, Chloe couldn't bring herself to really care that he wouldn't have much of a scar. She just wanted him to wake up.<p>

The two of them had been in a convoluted, friends-with-benefits relationship for months, ever since she'd walked into Watchtower and found him standing in the middle of the room in front of a target. He'd completely taken her by surprise, and not just with the impromptu archery lesson. Sex with him had not only been amazing, it had helped bring her back to life. She'd been slowly losing herself to Watchtower without even realizing it. After Doomsday, Davis, Jimmy, and everyone walking out on her, Watchtower had been the only constant in her life, the only place where she felt safe. Ironically, her safe haven had been keeping her from living. It was part of the reason she'd let sex with Oliver be more than a one time thing. After spending so much time alone and being overlooked, he had made her feel like she was being seen. It had started out being meaningless, but it hadn't stayed that way long.

Chloe could readily admit that during the time they'd been sleeping together Oliver had become her best friend. He knew her inside and out, better than anyone. He made her laugh. He listened when she needed someone to just sit there while she poured her heart out. He stopped by almost every night for dinner before going patrolling and if it led to some hot and steamy sex when he got back, then so be it. That wasn't why he showed up...most of the time anyway. They bantered when she was helping him through patrol. When they planned the more complicated missions, they spent as much time teasing each other as they did working out strategy. They called each other multiple times a day, sometimes just to chat and sometimes to actually talk about work. They were constantly texting and e-mailing in between. And somewhere along the way, Oliver had come to mean a lot more to her than "good friend whom she often slept with." He'd become the person she relied on with things got tough. He was the person she thought of when something happened, the person she wanted to tell. He was the person she shared her feelings with.

Before that whole thing with Roulette, she'd have never considered them the best of friends. Their relationship had really been that of employer and employee. He was Lois' ex and the guy who'd put together the team, nothing more. In fact, she thought she'd screwed up what little friendship they had when she ran off with Davis to give them time to save the world. Then she'd seen the footage of his attempted suicide. Without really knowing why, she'd been determined to save him. She'd needed him to be all right, to help her fight the bad guys, to keep her from going insane. So she'd orchestrated her own version of an intervention. As long as he was out there doing his job as the Green Arrow, she could go on being Watchtower. She'd actually expected him to be royally ticked off by her method of saving him. Instead, his reaction had been the exact opposite and had somehow led to sleeping together.

Sighing heavily, Chloe rubbed her hands over her face and stood. Her stiff muscles protested at the movement. She'd definitely been sitting in that stupid hospital chair for way too long. She grimaced slightly and walked over to the window, trying to work out the kinks in her muscles. Her back was aching from sitting for literally days, and she had the beginning of a stress headache.

A nurse bustled into the room. The woman looked tired, but alert as she began checking Oliver's vitals and administering medication. Chloe rubbed her temples but said nothing, choosing instead to continue looking out the window. She was used to the routine. Every few hours someone would come in to give him antibiotics and pain medication, change his bandages, and whatever else they needed to do. Every day or so, the changed the sheets and cleaned him up, usually with her help. It had been long enough that Chloe had begun to recognize the nurses. She was too tired to learn their names, but she knew their faces.

"Headache?" the nurse asked knowingly, looking up at Chloe when she was done checking on her patient.

"Yeah," Chloe said softly.

Nodding, the nurse disappeared into the hallway and returned moments later with a small sample pack of aspirin. Chloe took it gratefully and the nurse left. She dry swallowed the pills and moved back to her seat beside Oliver's bed. Picking up her laptop, which had been shoved under Oliver's bed, she opened it and logged into what remained of Watchtower's operating system. Until she could rebuild the mainframe and run through the designated protocols, most of the databases were still inaccessible. She'd been doing what she could to track down the Kandorians ever since Clark had told her that they'd all gotten powers. Those damn aliens had done a good job of falling off the grid and with most of her databases and spyware down, there wasn't much she could do. However, she did still have communications and she was doing what she could to round up all the heroes she knew and get them positioned around the world for when something did happen.

She quickly lost herself in checking in with the team, allowing the work to distract her from what was going on with Oliver. No one had found anything yet, but Carter had managed to track down a few more members of the JSA and their proteges who were willing to help them. He'd given them her encrypted Watchtower contact information. They were supposed to contact her in the next day or two. In the mean time, she busied herself with learning what she could about them based on the information Carter had given her and her own research.

There was a light tap on the door, breaking through her concentration. Chloe looked up to see Clark leaning in, looking worried.

"Any luck?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Unfortunately not. The Kandorians have officially fallen off the map and with Watchtower still almost nonexistent, there's not much I can do to look for them. Until they show up on their own, there's nothing we can do."

"Have you tried asking Victor for help with Watchtower?" He knew better than suggesting that she leave Oliver and fix it herself. She'd already bitten his head off once.

"He's halfway across the world, in the middle of a mission, and this isn't something he can do remotely," she sighed. "A lot of the hardware was damaged when Tess and I escaped by blowing out the cooling system. I put a lot of safeguards up in case something like this happened. The hardware has to be working for me to regain access to the databases. It's the only way to unlock the secure, remote servers I set up. Vic's going to get here as soon as he can."

Clark nodded, then glanced over at Oliver, his brow furrowed. "How's he doing? Shouldn't he be awake by now?"

"He's done with surgery, assuming that nothing happens," she answered softly. "They're still keeping him pretty heavily sedated for the pain and he's pumped full of antibiotics. They did finally take him off of the really heavy painkillers, so he could wake up at any time. It's just up to him."

Hearing the doubt in her voice, Clark crossed the room and laid a hand on her shoulder. "He will wake up, Chloe. I know he will. He's not ready to give up just yet."

Chloe just nodded, her gaze on Oliver.

Feeling distinctly uncomfortable, Clark started back toward the door. "I have to get back to the Planet before Lois notices that I'm gone, but I'll see you later," he promised.

She tore her eyes away from Oliver and smiled weakly. "Thanks for stopping by. I'll keep looking for something on Zod."

"Get some rest," Clark said, a frown returning to his face as he took in her haggard appearance. "You're wearing yourself out, Chloe, and we're all going to need you, including Oliver."

"I'm fine," she murmured.

Unconvinced, but knowing that arguing would do absolutely nothing but make her angry, Clark just walked away.

Blinking back tears, Chloe shut her laptop and slid it back into her bag, once more hiding it beneath Oliver's bed where it would be out of sight. Her vision was starting to swim with exhaustion. It was late afternoon, but she'd been sleeping so erratically and so badly since she'd barely left the hospital for anything more than a change of clothes and a shower that she just couldn't keep her eyes open. It didn't help that she hadn't been getting that much sleep before, anyway. She was sore all over from sleeping in her chair, but it was better than the floor. So she curled up in the chair, getting as comfortable as she could, and closed her eyes. Maybe when she woke up, she'd find that the past week had been a horrible nightmare and that everything was all right.

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><p>When she woke up again, it was the middle of the night. She glanced at her her phone and discovered that she'd slept for almost six hours, the longest she'd managed in days, probably because she was so damn exhausted. Her neck was aching from the awkward angle she'd been sleeping in and her back was so stiff, it hurt. It was the pain that had woken her. She hadn't been that uncomfortable since she'd accidentally fallen asleep at her station in Watchtower doing research on an upcoming mission. At least this time, she hadn't woken up with keyboard indentations on her face and AC, who'd come looking for her when she didn't check in with the intel, laughing at her.<p>

She looked over at Oliver. One of the nurses had closed the door while she was asleep, leaving the room almost dark, save for the monitors. In the dim light, she could almost convince herself that he was just asleep. He seemed so peaceful. But when she looked closer, she could see the emptiness in him. Usually there was something about him. Even when he slept, that seemed so full of life. That was missing. And of course, there was the bandage on his chest. Even in the dark, that was hard to miss. It practically glowed in the green light emanating from the machines, ensuring that she could never forget that Oliver wasn't just sleeping.

Tears pricked at her eyes. She pushed her chair closer to the hospital bed, as close as she could. Careful of the IV and the tubing attached to it, she wrapped her hand around Oliver's. With her other hand, she combed through his hair. It was free of the gel that usually gave it it's spiky texture and her fingers slid through the blonde strands easily. Chloe had lost count of the many times she'd laid beside him bed, completely naked, wrapped in his arms, doing just that, running her hand through his hair. She knew it wasn't something just friends would do, but she couldn't bring herself to care. There was something so innocently intimate about the gesture. It had always felt right to her. Once she started, she found that she craved the connection it seemed to engender.

Still running her fingers through his hair, she gently traced the outline of his bandages. He'd been hurt before. There'd been that time he'd been thrown through a window by Hawkman. That had been fun. Oliver still pouted about that on occasion. Most of the time, it was actually kind of cute to see him like that. He was the strong one. It was usually a nice change of pace when she got the chance to take care of him, but that was only with the minor injuries. Injuries as bad as the burn on his chest she rather never happen.

Oliver shifted, just the slightest bit, turning his head toward her fractionally. Chloe bit her lip. It wasn't the first time he'd moved in his sleep. He'd had dreams, even under the influence of the drugs. Every time she got her hopes up and her heart broke a little when he didn't wake. Still, she shifted closer and clutched his hand tighter, cupping his cheek with her other hand.

He grimaced and leaned into her hand. Chloe felt her heart rate begin to rise. He'd never responded to her touch before.

"Oliver?" she whispered.

His eyes opened and he blinked slowly, gazing at her with unfocused eyes. "Chloe?" he mumbled.

Tears ran down her cheeks. Gently caressing his cheek, she found the call button and hit it. She needed to be sure he was okay.

Oliver tried to sit up as his mind became marginally clearer. He gazed around the room with wide, confused eyes, as though he thought he was under attack. "Zod," he croaked. "What happened?"

Grasping his shoulder, she pushed him back on the bed. He struggled weakly, but his strength was so diminished she had no problem keeping him laying down. "Lie still," she said gently. "You got hurt pretty badly."

Still looking disoriented, he allowed her to hold him down. "What happened?" he repeated.

"You broke into the Luthor Mansion looking for Zod," she said softly, having hacked the security footage after the fact when Clark hadn't given her an answer. "Green kryptonite doesn't have as much of an effect on him as it does on Clark. When you let your guard down, he threw the dart away and attacked you. He burned his symbol on your chest."

That, he remembered. At least he'd been on the phone with Clark at the time or who knows how long he would have lain their or what else Zod would have done to him. "How long have I been out?"

"Five days. They kept you sedated for the pain and you've been in and out of surgery."

A nurse bustled into the room, stopping short when she that Oliver was awake. She changed course in mid-step and grabbed the phone off the wall, paging Emil, who'd swooped into to take the case when Clark called him after finding Oliver. Hanging up, the nurse hurried across the room and began taking readings. Feeling in the way, Chloe dragged her chair back over to the wall where she'd found it and sat back down. Oliver still looked slightly out of it. His hand seemed reached toward her, then fell back to the bed and his gaze kept flickering between Chloe and the nurse.

Emil arrived a few moments later. Chloe had a sneaking suspicion that he'd hopped a ride with Bart. He looked disheveled and slightly green around the gills, as he always did after traveling by superspeed. Straightening his glasses, he looked over to her and nodded once, then pushed past the nurse to stand beside Oliver.

For the next thirty minutes, Chloe sat in the corner, watching as Emil fussed over Oliver. He sent the nurse out of the room and tried to ask Oliver about what had happened, but he was still too out of it. Emil drew some blood to double check for infection, inspected the wound, ordered some different painkillers that wouldn't make Oliver quite so tired and were less addictive with long term use, and changed the antibiotic regimen. In all that time, Chloe didn't speak. She just watched. Oliver slowly became more coherent, but not enough to be of any help. He was sitting up a little more, but his words were still jumbled. Every so often, he glanced over at Chloe. She tried to smile encouragingly, but she had the feeling it just came out as a strained grimace.

"Well," Emil sighed, slipping his pen back into his pocket and hooking the clipboard over the end of the bed when he finished writing down the changes in Oliver's medication. "It looks like you're out of the woods. The grafts are taking nicely and there doesn't look like there's an infection. But we'll have to be careful if we want to prevent one. Burns are highly susceptible. You'll be groggy for the next day or two while the more potent drugs leave your system. I'd recommend no visitors until tomorrow and only two or three at the time. Don't strain yourself," he said sternly. "If I hear that you're tying to sit up more than you are right now or trying to get out of bed, I will restrain you. You'll feel like you're ready to be up and around, but if you don't rest, you're immune system will weaken further and you'll get an infection that will lay you up even more."

Oliver nodded weakly. "Got it, doc."

Looking relieved that Oliver hadn't complained, but also skeptical as to how well he'd actually follow instructions, Emil turned to Chloe. "Can I have a word with you?"

Nodding, she followed him into the hall. "Is something wrong?" she asked worriedly.

"No. No, everything's fine," Emil assured her. "Oliver's recovering nicely and the grafts are taking well, as I said. It should only be a few days before he can go home and recover there, where I'm sure he'll be more comfortable. As long as he gets his rest and doesn't overexert himself, his recovery should be relatively swift. When was the last time you got a good night's sleep?"

Taken aback slightly by the change in subject, Chloe stammered, "I don't know. Why?"

Emil frowned. "I'm assuming that you're the only person on the team patient enough to see Oliver through his convalescence. And knowing him, you're going to need all your energy. You really need to get your rest. He's going to need you a lot during his recovery."

"I'm not going back to Smallville," she said firmly. "It's a two hour drive, which I am not up to, and I can't stay in the ruins of Watchtower. Besides, I'm not about to leave Oliver."

"That's not what I'm suggesting," he said slowly, making sure that he was listening. "And while I'm sure that you could stay at Oliver's penthouse, I was actually going to say that I don't want you spending the whole night watching him. I'm going to have another bed brought in so you can get some sleep. I mean it Chloe, you need to rest."

"I'm fine," she protested weakly.

Emil just glared at her. She might be scary and commanding as Watchtower, but at the moment, she was his patient and he didn't care what she could do to him. Her well-being was his top priority. "You're dead on your feet, Chloe. You're pale, probably anemic. I know you haven't been eating properly. I'm surprised you're functioning at all. Oliver's got a long road to recovery and you know as well as I do how much he hates sitting around doing nothing. If you plan on helping him, that means you need all your energy or in the end you'll be doing as much harm to him as you are to yourself. Not to mention the fact, that the rest of the team needs Watchtower functioning if we're going to survive the coming alien apocalypse. I know you're worried about him. We all are. Don't let it effect your own well-being."

Properly chastised, Chloe nodded. "All right. I'll sleep."

"Good. Now why don't you go in there and spend some time with Oliver before the drugs kick back in and he passed out," Emil suggest with a grin. "I'll have a cot brought in."

Knowing that he'd long ago put together the relationship between her and Oliver, but had had the decency not to mention anything to her of to anyone else, Chloe blushed slightly. "Thanks for everything, Emil."

He shrugged. "It's what I do. Call me if you need anything," he said before walking away.

Oliver was half asleep when she ducked back into the room. His eyes were almost closed and he looked like he was forcing himself to stay awake. He also looked like he wasn't being very successful. Careful not to disturb him, she sat on the edge of the bed. His eyes fluttered open when he felt her weight on the mattress. He smiled slightly, reaching for her hand.

"Hey," she whispered.

"Hey," he croaked. "How long have you been here?"

"Just a few seconds."

He chuckled tiredly. "I meant in the hospital, not sitting on my bed."

"Oh. That. A while."

"Which means that you've been here entirely too long. I really should tell you to go home and get some sleep, but I just don't think I can."

"Good, because you weren't going to win that argument," she teased. "Especially not doped up on drugs."

"What? You're not going to take it easy on me?"

"It's not in my nature."

He laughed again and his eyes drifted shut. He fought against the urge to sleep, but Chloe slid her fingers his hair, gently caressing his scalp. She knew that it almost always sent him to sleep. "Sleep," she whispered. "You need your rest to get better."

"I've been asleep for almost a week," he grumbled. "I should be going after Zod. Someone needs to stop him."

She continued sliding her fingers through his hair, trying to lull him to sleep. "You can barely keep your eyes open, Ollie, and you can't sit up. How exactly are you planning on using a bow, let along actually fighting the super-powered aliens?"

"I'd think of something," he protested. The words were so muddled with sleep they were barely comprehensible.

"Sure you would." Chloe bent down and kissed his cheek. He immediately turned and captured her lips with his. One hand came up to grip the back of her neck. He moved sluggishly, bogged down by sleep and pain, but the electricity that always raced through her body at his touch pulsed through her, making her feel better than she had in days.

Reluctantly, she pulled away before things got intense. Oliver frowned sleepily. "I'm not done," he whined, his voice childish.

"Yes, you are," she contradicted with a grin. "I don't want to hurt you and I will if you try to get frisky, which we both know that will you. Not to mention the fact that you're about to pass out on me. Go to sleep, Oliver. I'll be here when you wake up."

He hooked his arm around her waist and tried to pull her down against his side. Lucky for her, the drugs that were sending him to sleep had also sapped his strength, leaving him incapable of getting a good grip on her. She easily pulled his arm away. "I can't," she whispered. "Not tonight."

"I don't care," Oliver grumbled. "I've been on a business trip for over two weeks and when I got back I had to help Clark with some mission that got me sent to the hospital before I even got to seem my girlfriend, who I missed a lot."

Ignoring the way his stomach fluttered at his use of the word girlfriend, she tried to tease him. "At least you were unconscious for part of it." He glared at her sleepily and she changed tact. "I don't care how long it's been. I'm not going to do anything that might hurt you."

"Stubborn woman. You can lay next to me without hurting me."

"Nice try. Emil's getting me a cot. I'll be right here."

"No you won't," he grumbled. "You'll be over there.

She kissed his forehead. "Stop pouting you big baby. I'll be close enough. Just go to sleep already. I'll see you in the morning."

Chloe slid off the bed, ignoring Oliver's sleepy sound of protest, as a man brought a cot into the room. She didn't even want to know what strings Emil had to pull to get it in there for her. There were pillows and blankets stacked in the corner of the room which hadn't been there before. She recognized them from apartment at the Talon. Bart must have run them over.

"Chloe," Oliver mumbled, reaching out for her.

Shaking her head, she quickly made up the bed. Just as she was about to lay down, she heard Oliver's voice, faint and almost inaudible, once more murmuring her name. He was so close to being asleep but his stubborn nature was keeping him awake. Rolling her eyes tiredly, she pushed the cot closer to the bed and took his hand in hers. "It's okay, Ollie. I'm right here. Just go to sleep. We'll talk in the morning. I promise."

He shifted slightly closer to the edge of the bed, turning his head to that he was looking down at her, even though his eyes were closed. Looking up at him, so close to falling asleep, Chloe could see the life, the vitality that had been missing before. He looked like Oliver again. Now that he was awake and conscious, it was going to be a lot more fun taking care of him. He was actually rather cute when he was injured and helpless, even when he was being a pain in the ass.

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><p><em>Author's Note: So what do you think? This has been on my computer since I was in the middle of Twist of Fate and I just got around to editing it for posting. At this point, I'm not sure if I'll continue it beyond one more chapter. It honestly depends on how well received this is and what you guys think. So leave me lots of comments and let me know if it's worth making this into a longer fic.<br>_


	2. Fresh Wounds: Part 2

**Title:** Fading Scars

**Rating:** PG. Some mature themes and mild language. Nothing too serious though.

**Summary:** Chloe keeps vigil at Oliver's bedside, trying to deal with her emotions, after he is branded by Zod.

**Warning:** None at this point in time, but I only have a rough outline of the fic, so that may change.

**Spoilers:** Season 9, specifically Sacrifice.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the Smallville characters. I'm just playing with them. Please don't sue.

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><p>Fresh Wounds: Part 2<p>

It was the pain that woke him. With every breath, it felt as though someone was pouring acid over his torso. Oliver groaned quietly and opened his eyes, blinking to clear his vision. He looked up, staring at the patterns the sunlight coming through the blinds made on the ceiling. There was a strange beeping in the background that he couldn't quite place. A moment passed before he realized that he was lying in a hospital bed. The beeping was coming from the monitors that were surrounding him. Another beat went by before he realized that the pain in his chest was from the brand Zod had burned into his skin.

As his mind cleared marginally, he realized that someone was holding his hand, meaning that he wasn't alone. He glanced around the room, but didn't see anyone at first. He pushed himself up slightly, gritting his teeth when the movement pulled at the burned skin on his chest and looked down at the hand holding his. A smile tugged at his lips. He'd know that hand anywhere.

He shifted his weight slightly, so that he was resting more on his hip, and looked over the edge of the bed. She was lying on a cot, fast asleep. Her arm was draped up and over the edge of his hospital bed, her fingers laced with his.

Oliver stroked her hand with his thumb, smiling at down at her tenderly. He'd missed her while he was in Star City, taking care of his company. He'd never admit that to Chloe, though. Their relationship had taken him by surprise, but had swiftly become the most important thing in his life.

He had taken notice of Chloe the moment he'd met her and his estimation of her had only increased after she'd come charging into his penthouse, proclaiming that she knew about his alter ego like she was commenting on the weather and proceeded to lead him and the team through a dangerous mission. Her beauty hadn't been lost on him, but at the time, he'd been dating Lois and had thought that he was in love with her. For the first time in his life, he'd found himself putting an attractive woman in the "friends only" category with absolutely no desire to change that status. Chloe was good company, especially since she was so accepting of his alter ego. She had quickly proven herself to be a lot of help to the team and as much as he liked the guys, Chloe had been a nice source of semi-mature conversation when he couldn't take their good-natured bickering anymore. It hadn't been long before he began considering her a real friend.

There had still been bumps along the way. Their friendship had been strained after he broke up with Lois, but Chloe had continued to offer ops support to the team and it had only been a matter of time before things became easy between them again. Despite the problems and the time they spent apart, Oliver soon found that he trusted Chloe implicitly. She knew him better than just about anyone. It was so easy to talk to her.

Thing had gone downhill once Davis entered the picture. Chloe had become more distant and he'd been an absolute mess after finding out that Lionel had killed his parents. It was a miracle that no one had noticed how screwed up he was or that he was drinking more than before. Anyone who knew he was Green Arrow knew that most of the drinking and the playboy act was simply a cover for his real after hours activities. Unable to admit to himself how bad things were, Oliver had done a damn good job of pretending that he was all right.

But, tricking himself and everyone else into believing nothing was wrong had probably made things worse in the long run. When Tess had shown up, he'd been unprepared to deal with the emotional repercussions that came with bringing up the past and Tess' vitriolic feelings toward him. On top of everything else, Lex had come back. Oliver had been so on edge that when Lex came after him through Toyman, it had pushed him off the edge. At the time, killing Lex had seemed the only rational way to protect people. He'd felt justified in planting that bomb. Not even Clark's disapproval when he found out had been enough to change his mind. It wasn't until Jimmy, an innocent bystander, had been killed as a result of choices that he had made that he realized what he'd done. It was the first time he'd seen how far he'd strayed from the path he'd been trying to follow ever since he became Green Arrow. He'd gotten so lost in his own problems that he'd stopped seeing the consequences of his actions. The realization had almost destroyed him.

He had cut everyone out of his life, feeling like he didn't belong anymore after the mistakes he'd made, and had set about completely destroying everything in an attempt to forget. It was why committing suicide had seemed so tempting. Tess had only dragged him back to Metropolis to address the board and Clark had only saved him because there were other people in the room.

He could never have guessed that Chloe had seen and understood the whole thing. When he finally figured out that she was the one who had orchestrated his personal day in hell for his own good, he'd been floored. The whole thing with Roulette had completely turned his life around and had helped him realize that he wasn't as irredeemable as he thought. He'd been stunned to find that someone had cared about him enough to pull him out of his funk. Sitting outside the cafe afterward, he'd begun to suspect that there was something more between them than just friendship.

He'd pushed the thought away quickly. There was too much he had to do. He had to get his company straightened out and start patrolling again. Being friends with Chloe was going to have to be enough. It hadn't been easy, though. He was acutely aware of how hard the past few months had been on her. She'd completely closed herself off. All of her time was spent insulated from the world in her Watchtower. Whenever they spoke, it was purely business. Still feeling guilty about leaving her after Jimmy died, Oliver had done everything he could to earn her trust and friendship back.

A few choice words from an old superhero who'd thrown him through a window had been enough to make him realize that he hadn't been doing enough and that he'd been ignoring how he really felt. Oliver had started actively spending more time around Chloe. He made a point of making sure that their conversations didn't always focus on the mission at hand. He stopped by Watchtower at least once a day and kept in constant electronic communication. At first, she'd looked at him like he'd lost his mind, but he'd just stuck around, slowly getting her to trust him again.

He hadn't actually intended to seduce her that night in the Watchtower. He'd just been practicing when she'd walked in the door. Then she had give him an opening and he couldn't help but take advantage of it. The last thing he had expected was for her to take him up on his offer. For a brief moment, he'd allowed himself to believe that she had actually opened up to him. Her many rules for their relationship the morning after had told him that he hadn't made as much progress as he'd hoped. He'd ended up playing along with her while constantly toeing the line until he was eventually able to blur it out of existence.

In the months that had passed since then, Oliver had learned more about Chloe than he had ever known before. They had become better friends and he had fallen for her even more. He could readily admit that he was in love with her, but she couldn't seem to allow herself to accept or even acknowledge what was happening between them.

Despite the current, less than ideal, circumstances, the fact that she was in his hospital room and been for the entire time he'd been unconscious spoke volumes, even if she wouldn't admit it. Maybe he was closer to finally breaching her walls than he thought≥

Oliver sighed deeply and immediately winced. Between the painkillers still in his system and his own thoughts, he'd almost managed to forget that his chest had practically been burned off.

Trying to distract himself, he looked down at Chloe and realized that her arm had to be killing her. The way it was hanging off the edge of his bed couldn't be comfortable. As much as he appreciated that she'd humored him when he'd insisted on staying on contact with her with her, - he did slightly remember their conversation from the night before, despite the fact that he'd been ridiculously high - he didn't want her to be in too much pain. It was bad enough that he was injured.

Tightening his grip on her hand, Oliver called her name softly. She didn't even stir. He repeated her name, with a little more volume. She groaned and turned her face into the pillow, burrowing into the cot. He chuckled. She was beautiful when she slept.

"Chloe," he said again, even louder.

Her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him. Smiling gently, she sat up. Pain flickered across her face when she moved her arm and shoulder. She stretched, working the kinks out of her muscles, then slipped her hand back into his.

"How are you feeling?" Chloe asked, stroking his arm.

"Not that great," he admitted. "It feels like my chest was set on fire after an elephant walked on me."

Frowning in concern, she reached for the button that controlled his medication. He grabbed her hand, remembering how quickly the meds had knocked him out the night before. Sleep was the last thing on his mind. "I'm fine," he said quickly.

"Now's not the time for your I'm-too-tough-to-feel-pain act," she admonished, glaring at him. "First of all, I can see right through it. Remember, I was there after Hawkman tossed through you the window. You were whining about the antiseptic on your cuts and this is a hundred times worse. Second, you're just going to make yourself worse. And third, you'll thank me when the drugs kick in."

"Yeah, but they'll put me to sleep," he protested.

Chloe shook her head. "Emil took you off the heavy duty stuff last night. You just had to get them out of your system. The new ones will just make you a little drowsy. They won't mess with your head and they won't knock you out."

He remained unconvinced but his strength was still diminished and Chloe broke free of his grip, hitting the button to trigger the medication. A wry smile tugged at his lips as he watched her sit back. "You're going to force the pills down my throat when they finally let me out of here, aren't you?" he teased softly.

"If that's what it takes. Of course, you could just let me take care of you."

Rolling his eyes, he tried to push himself up off the pillows. But the movement pulled at his chest and he grimaced. "You mean like you do when you're hurt?"

Chloe glared at him and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. "What did Emil tell you about straining yourself? Your immune system is weak from the injuries and if you tire yourself out further, you can get a really serious infection. Are you trying to make things worse?"

"It's not that bad. I can sit up on my own," he grumbled, even as he fell back against the pillows.

She cocked an eyebrow and pressed the button on the rail, raising the bed into a sitting position. Oliver returned her glare. Her eyes narrowed further and she reached behind him, adjusting the pillow so that he was more comfortable.

His gaze hardened. "I shouldn't be here. Neither of us should be here. We should both be out there fighting Zod. I shouldn't be lying around like an invalid."

_And here I thought I had a little more time before the self-pity act kicked in_, Chloe thought tiredly.

"Clark's not going to do anything," he ranted on, oblivious to the exasperated look on her face. "And you know it as well as I do! Someone should be out there who's wiling to take the bastard out if something happens."

"Well that's not going to be you," Chloe snapped. "I hate to break it to you, but for the time being you are an invalid. Ollie, you can't even wear your gear in this state, let alone fight Zod or any of the other Kandorians. You couldn't take down a drunk mugger. Now, it sucks that Clark won't do anything about Zod. I'd like to think that after the way they attacked Checkmate, that Clark -"

"Wait a second," Oliver interrupted, sitting up slightly and grabbing Chloe's arm. "Zod took down Checkmate?"

"It's a long story," she said quickly. "Something about thinking that they were responsible for the death of his wife and unborn child. I didn't get the details. The point is, I'd like to think that Clark would be more willing to do something to actually stop the Kandorians. Unfortunately, I don't think he is. But until you're on your feet again, we're just going to have to make do knowing that he's out there. It's our only choice. The more you cooperate with me and Emil, the sooner you'll be out of here, and the sooner you'll be on the streets again. If I have to fight you every step of the way, it's going to take twice as long for you to get better and you're probably going to get worse before you do, which just means that we'll both end up more frustrated than we are now!"

"The world is literally coming to an end in an alien apocalypse and you expect me to just lie in bed and do nothing?" Oliver demanded.

"Yes!"

His jaw tightened. "You know I can't do that! I'm not going to be sidelined!"

"Is that what you think?" she said incredulously. "That I'm benching you? God, that's not it! The fact is, you're a liability like this."

Oliver tried to protest, but she overrode him sharply. "I know you don't like to hear it, but if you suit up and go out there in this condition, all you'll do is get yourself killed, which will leave us a man down when the apocalypse actually does occur. If you don't die, someone else will get hurt saving your ass. I know you want to get out there and do something, but there is nothing you can do like this. If you really want to help, you'll get better and you won't do anything stupid. Ollie, if the team loses you they'll be completely destroyed and the world won't stand a chance."

He sighed, leaning back against his pillows. "I get it. You're right. I'm a liability. I don't like it," he stipulated. "But I get it. I just..."

"Don't like it?" she supplied.

Groaning, he failed to suppress a smile. "That about sums it up." A strange look crossed his face. "You were just exaggerating about the team, right? They'd be able to function if something happened to me."

"Oliver, you put the team together and saved them all in the process," she said slowly, emphasizing each word. "If you go up against Zod while you're injured like this, they'll feel responsible for not stopping you, for not being there to watch your back when you needed it. Besides," she added, "you'd feel the same way if one of them got hurt, then went out on a mission and got himself killed. You'd never let yourself forget it."

Sighing, he dropped his head back and looked up at the ceiling. She was right and he knew it. But knowing it didn't mean that lying in bed doing nothing while the world was literally ending around him was going to be any easier.

After a moment, he looked up. Chloe was staring a wrinkle in the sheet, pointedly ignoring him. He squeezed her hand to get her attention. When she didn't look up, he took her chin in his hand, forcing her to look at him.

"I promise to behave," he said softly. "I'm not going to do something stupid. I'm not going to get myself killed. I may be a pain in the ass patient, but that's not going to change no matter what you say."

A small smile broke across her face. It wasn't the wide, light-up-the-room smile he was trying for, but Oliver would take what he could get. "Listen, I may bluster and rant about being stuck on the sidelines, but I really do know how badly I'm hurt and that getting better will take time. What bothers me is that I know there's nothing I can do to speed up the healing process or help the guys with Zod and the Kandorians. Chloe, I won't start patrolling again until Emil says I'm ready. I promise, okay?"

"Okay," she whispered.

Despite the pain, Oliver leaned forward enough to lightly kiss her on the lips. He wanted more, but rather than start another fight, he leaned back again before she could admonish him for straining himself.

"Now," he said. "Are you planning on actually telling me what missed while I was unconscious?"

"Oh, it was happy fun time," Chloe said, a tired expression crossing her face. "While you were being attacked a psychotic alien, Tess broke into the Watchtower. She wanted to know what we had on the Kandorians. When Checkmate activated a tracker they'd planted in her body, it triggered Watchtower's defense system. We got locked inside and in order to escape we had to destroy everything."

Her voice caught slightly and Oliver held her hand more tightly. He knew how important Watchtower was to her. Despite the progress he'd made getting her back out into the world, it was still her safe haven. He couldn't even begin to imagine how hard it had been for her to first lose the Watchtower and then find out he was hurt. She would never admit the way she felt about him, but whether she knew it or not, he'd seen how much she cared after Checkmate had captured him and it was enough for him to know that the past few days had not been easy on her.

She squeezed his hand in return and went on. "I ran into Clark here afterwards. He told me what happened to you and I've been here ever since, trying to access Watchtower's databases, but the encryptions I set up require the request come through the Watchtower server, which is basically debris. I need Vic's help to put it back together, so there's nothing I can do until he gets back from his mission. When Clark came in and told me about what happened at Checkmate, I started trying to track down the Kandorians, but since their powers have been restored, they're almost impossible to find." She trailed off in frustration.

"You've been here the entire week, haven't you?" he asked shrewdly.

She winced and looked at him sheepishly. "Out of everything I just told you, you decided to fixate on that?"

"For the moment. Why didn't you go home?"

Chloe flushed and suddenly couldn't seem to make eye contact. "Watchtower was destroyed. I didn't want to drive back and forth to Smallville."

"You have the key to my penthouse and the code for the elevator. Why didn't you stay there?"

"My key was at Watchtower. I haven't been able to bring myself to go back."

Oliver watched her for a moment. There was something she wasn't telling him and he got the feeling that it was something she wasn't telling herself, not something she was keeping back intentionally. It had taken a lot of work to get through her protective walls as far as he had and in the process, he'd learned when to press her and when to back off. It was definitely time to back off. So he changed the subject.

"If all the Kandorians have powers, then why won't Clark fight them?" he asked. "They obviously pose a real threat now."

"Well, when you think about it, Clark has a point," she admitted tiredly. "Zod's practically got an army. They're all superpowered, fiercely loyal, and they were literally soldiers on Krypton. We don't stand a chance against them right now. Until we can find a way to take them out, the best thing we can do is keep from pissing them off and starting the war before we can end it."

Oliver nodded solemnly as he digested her words. She had a valid point. There were at least thirty Kandorians that he knew of. There was no way the team could take them all out, especially without Clark's help. He just didn't like the idea of waiting for them to make the first move. He was more of the pre-emptive strike kind of guy.

Starting to feel uncomfortable with the way the rails were cutting into her leg, Chloe shifted on the mattress, trying to find a more comfortable position. Oliver raised an eyebrow. Shooting him a smile, she stopped moving. Careful not to strain himself and earn another rebuke from Chloe, he maneuvered himself over to the far side of the bed so that there was room beside him. He patted the mattress invitingly.

She shook her head. "I don't want to hurt you."

He pursed his lips. "Chloe, my chest is burned. Not my side, not my shoulder, not my arm. You're not gonna hurt me by sitting beside me. At least this way you'll be more comfortable. Besides," his gaze turned lustful, "it's been over two weeks since I got to touch you."

She was unable to hold back a laugh at that. "And it's going to be a lot longer before you get to touch me the way you're thinking."

"Which is exactly why I should be allowedto touch you as much I can given my current state."

If she hadn't been so desperate to be near him - something she wasn't about to scrutinize - she would have refused. As it was, Chloe slowly moved to lean against his side. He immediately wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her tight, resting his head against hers. She tried not to think about the intimacy of the position. It wasn't something friends, or friends with benefits would do. But she found herself unable to care enough to even freak out about the fact that the lines she'd so carefully laid out between them were quickly blurring and disappearing.

Once she had settled against his side, Oliver smirked against her hair. He was definitely making progress. From their conversation, it was becoming clear that she felt the same way he did, that she'd fallen as head over heals as he had. But she still couldn't admit it to herself. Her subconscious had recognized what she wouldn't allow herself to know. Oliver once again had hope that trying to work his way into Chloe's heart wasn't a completely impossible task. Now that he knew she was weakening and that there was a light at the end of the tunnel, he knew that he was never going to stop fighting for her.

* * *

><p>Oliver drifted in and out of sleep for the rest of the day. Though Emil had confirmed that the new meds he was on were not as strong as the ones he'd been on while he was unconscious, they were still enough to make him really drowsy. That coupled with how tired he was in general, meant that he was having trouble staying awake. It irked even though he was used to the drain on his energy that was part of the healing process. He wanted nothing more than to avoid the meds so that he could stay awake, but his chest really did hurt and he saw the worry in Chloe's eyes when she noticed his pain. That was more than enough motivation for him to take the painkillers and deal with the frustration of not being able to keep his eyes open for more than an hour or so at a time.<p>

When he was awake, he observed her carefully. She'd slid off his bed the first time he'd fallen asleep and had been working on her laptop ever since. Oliver didn't need to ask what she was doing or see her computer to know that she was either trying to track down the Kandorians or she was still trying unsuccessfully to get into her databases. There were circles under her eyes, which meant that she hadn't been sleeping well and that she'd been spending way too much time staring at the computer screen. One of the things he had observed about Chloe over the past few months as he'd tried to get to know her better was that she tended to obsess over her work when things began to overwhelm her emotionally. He only wished that he was in a better position to comfort her, but he got the feeling that anything he said wouldn't be taken seriously since he was currently lying in a hospital bed.

He tried to make conversation when he was awake enough to make coherent statements. Chloe always answered easily, with her usual sharp wit and sarcasm, but she didn't go out of her way to prolong the conversation. The rational part of his brain knew that she was probably doing it because she could see how tired he was and was trying not to keep him awake unnecessarily. The part of his brain that had gotten to know Chloe better than anyone else he'd ever met knew that she was trying to deal with all the emotions she was feeling. It was a further sign that he was working his way into her heart, but it also meant that she would be working to reinforce her defenses and would be holding him at arm's length until she convinced herself that there was nothing going on between them besides friendship and earth-shattering sex. Usually, he'd give her the space she seemed to need until she sorted through things and let him back in. This time, he wasn't about to let her shut him out.

Unfortunately, there was little he could do at the moment. The physical limitations of his wounds would not have normally stopped him. It would make things a little more difficult since he couldn't chase her down, but not impossible. Not being able to stay awake was another matter. If he was doped up on drugs, there wouldn't be much he could do to combat Chloe's doubts. He was going to have to wait until he could stay conscious before that could happen. It would be a lot harder to force her to confront her feelings for him while keeping her from patching up the holes he'd made in her defenses if he kept falling asleep during the conversation.

That night when he lay awake, unable to sleep until the pain meds kicked in again, he took the opportunity to examine her more closely. She had pulled the cot nearer to the bed again and was lying as close to the edge as possible without falling off. Her hand was tucked beneath her cheek. She was curled up on her side, almost in a fetal position. It was another sign that she was feeling vulnerable. He ached to pull her into his arms and offer her what little comfort he could.

Oliver managed to roll onto his side. To his surprise, the change in position didn't hurt as much as he thought it might and he had a better view of her.

One of the worst things about being injured was having nothing to do. At least this time, he'd have something to do. The downside was that trying to fully break through Chloe's walls had the potential to completely backfire. It could send her running to the hills. He didn't even want to think about what it would be like to lose her completely from his life. If that happened, he'd be worse off than he had been before she pretended to run him over with an eighteen-wheeler.

_But she's worth the risk_, he reminded himself unnecessarily, all too aware of the risks involved in loving Chloe Sullivan.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: So I've decided that what I'm going to do is make this a series of one and two shots. They'll all be posted under Fading Scars, but will more or less stand alone unless otherwise denoted. They will refer to each other and be a lose series. Hope that makes sense. Let me know if you have any questions.<em>

_Next up, Chloe and Oliver get to go home._


	3. Road to Recovery

**Title**: Fading Scars

**Rating**: PG, some mature themes and mild language. Nothing too serious though. Subject to change.

**Summary**: Chloe keeps vigil at Oliver's bedside, trying to deal with her emotions, after he is branded by Zod.

**Warning**: None at this point in time, but I only have a rough outline for the fic, so that may change. Also, because this fic is so rough, I have no idea how quick updates will be.

**Spoilers**: Season 9, specifically Sacrifice

**Disclaimer**: I don't own any of the Smallville characters. I'm just playing with them. Please don't sue.

_Author's Note: I'm so sorry for the long delay in this. I've hit a bit of writer's block where it comes to my Chlollie fics, in particular Gift of Fate. That particular story has several plot lines coming together and I'm having trouble figuring out how to bring them all together. I'll try to update as much as I can, but I'm not going to force anything. I didn't get many reviews for the last update I posted, which made me very sad. Review, review, review and hopefully my muse will come back to me!_

* * *

><p>The Road to Recovery<p>

Oliver was worried. Actually, he was damn near freaking out.

It had been a week and a half, almost two weeks, since he'd woken up in the hospital after being branded by Zod and two days since he'd been released. Despite little visible progress, Emil had said that he was healing as well as expected under the circumstances and had warned that his recovery was going to be slow. Oliver knew from experience that being laid up for weeks on end inevitably drove Oliver crazy, but this time he'd come to terns with the fact that he was going to be out of commission for a while.

No, what was bothering him was something else entirely. Something that had nothing to do with his recovery. He was worried about Chloe.

Waking up to find her sitting at his bedside had created the most amazing feeling inside of him. She'd been working so hard from the very beginning to trivialize their relationship that for her to do something that so obviously showed the depth of her feelings made her heart swell. Oliver had known from the start Chloe gun shy when to commitment, and understandably so, with her romantic history. He had taken no offense when she'd put up walls and tried so desperately to keep everything strictly casual. It was still nice to see proof that she really did care and that his attempts to break through her walls were working.

He known from the beginning that she shared his feeling, but he hadn't realized that her feelings were as strong as his until he'd watched her the past week. In working his way into her heart, he'd learned how she coped with stress of any kind, particularly emotional stress. She dealt by distracting herself with work. Whenever Clark did something to annoy her or hurt her feelings, or whenever Lois got into trouble chasing down her latest story, Chloe threw herself into her work. Whether it was researching for the team's next mission, monitoring the Kandorians, or writing some new code for Watchtower's systems, Chloe buried herself in it until the emotions were drowned out. The fact that she hadn't stopped trying to find Zod and get into her remote databases since Oliver had landed in the hospital - despite repeatedly saying that she wouldn't be able to access them until Victor helped her rebuild the hardware - meant that her emotions were really beginning to overwhelm her. The pressure she was putting on herself, all for the sake of ignoring her feelings, was cause for some serious worry.

Oliver hadn't realized just how bad things were until a few days had passed. At first, he'd been drifting in and out of sleep, barely conscious for more than an hour at a time, and he hadn't noticed anything. She'd always made a point of putting her laptop away and focusing on him when he was awake. Once his mind had become a little less befuddled, he'd begun noticing the dark circles under her eyes, the unusual paleness to her skin, and the tense lines across her forehead. As he thought about it a little more, he'd realized that he hadn't seen Chloe eat since he'd woken up. Aside from copious amounts of coffee, he hadn't noticed her putting anything into her system. He couldn't even say for sure that she was sleeping because he usually passed out before she did.

Emil had confirmed Oliver's fears that Chloe wasn't taking care of herself the day he was discharged.

* * *

><p>"<em>I'm releasing you on one condition," Emil said without preamble, striding into Oliver's hospital room. <em>

_Startled, Oliver looked up from the Queen Industries files he'd been reading. Emil stopped at the end of his bed, crossing his arms across his chest, and staring Oliver in the eye. It was amazing how intimidating the doctor could be when he was doing his job. _

_With exaggerated slowness, Oliver closed the file and set it aside. He hadn't been expecting Emil to let him out anytime soon. As far as he could tell, there hadn't been much progress in his condition. _

_Apparently having waited long enough for Oliver to say something, Emil jumped right in. "Hopefully, I don't need to reiterate the importance of getting your rest and taking your meds on time. You've been injured often enough that one would think you've got the healing process down," he added wryly, fixing Oliver with a disapproving stare. It was well known throughout the league that Oliver was the most uncooperative patient on the planet. _

_Properly chastised, Oliver nodded. "Don't worry. Chloe gave me the 'behave or else' lecture on day one."_

"_Which brings us directly to my condition." The professional demeanor Emil had been projecting since walking into the room slipped slightly to reveal a worried expression. He ran a hand through his hair. "I'm concerned that Chloe hasn't been taking care of herself. She's been running herself ragged."_

_Oliver frowned. "I know. But she brushes me off every time I try to talk to her about it."_

"_I'm sure she does," Emil sighed. "You're the only person who stands a chance of getting her to take it easy. I'm hoping that if the two of you are back at the penthouse, she'll be more likely to relax a little. Chloe is quite possibly more stubborn than you are and I understand that you might not have any success, but I expect you to try."_

"_What makes you think she'll listen to me?" Oliver challenged, his eyes narrowed. As far as the team knew, he had as much power over Chloe as the rest of them. _

_Emil rolled his eyes. "I'm not blind, Oliver. Neither am I an imbecile. I've been in and out since you were brought in here. Do you really I think I haven't figured out what's going on between you two? Even if I hadn't been suspicious for weeks, it would have been easy to see."_

_Slightly stunned, Oliver stared at the doctor. "You haven't told anyone, have you?"_

"_Olive,r as you know, discretion is a very large part of my work. I wouldn't even have said anything to you if I wasn't so worried about Chloe." Emil crossed his arms again. "Are you going to do something about it or am I going to have to call in the league for an intervention?"_

_Still processing the fact that Emil knew about him and Chloe, Oliver answered slowly. "No. I'll take care of it."_

_Satisfied, Emil handed him a clipboard. "Excellent. Sign these and we can get you out of here."_

* * *

><p>So far, Oliver's success in getting Chloe to slow down had been limited. Emil had taken him off of strict bed rest, but he wasn't up to chasing Chloe down. Victor had gotten back into town just a few hours after he'd been released and she'd been holed up in Watchtower, helping him get everything put back together. Oliver knew that since she was sure that he was out of the woods she felt obligated to do everything she could to stop the Kandorians. She'd come back to the penthouse the night before and run ops from her laptop. Nothing he'd said had been successful in convincing her to take a break and go to bed.<p>

His phone chimed, signaling that he'd gotten a text message. Knowing that it would be Chloe, checking in once again, he grabbed it off the bedside table.

_**Going out to dinner with Lois then to Watchtower. Be back later. Don't forget to take your meds.**_

Sighing, he typed out a response.

_**Yes mother. Hurry back. Miss you :**_**(**

He was about to drop the phone back on the table when he got an idea. Oliver hit speed dial and gingerly pushed himself up on the pillows.

"Dude, are you even allowed to be on the phone?"

He rolled his eyes. "Because holding the phone is really going to wear me out," he said sarcastically.

Victor chuckled. "Well, you did wait until Chloe was out of Watchtower to call me. Obviously you're doing something you're not supposed to be."

"I am not breaking any rules and I'm not avoiding Chloe for the reasons you think. Did you get a break between the mission and rebuilding Watchtower?" Oliver didn't have time to beat around the bush.

"No, not really. Why?" Vic asked, obviously confused.

"Because you need to tell Chloe that you need a major recharge and that's it's going to be at least a few days before you can get back to work at Watchtower."

"Why the hell would I do that? Do you have any idea how high strung she's been about this? She'll probably try to reprogram me! No way man. I'll recharge later."

"Vic, I'm not trying to get you on Chloe's bad side," Oliver said slowly, completely understanding why he was so worried. They'd all been subject to Chloe's wrath before and it was not fun. "I'm asking you to do this for her sake. She's literally wearing herself out. If she doesn't get some rest, she's going to burn out completely and crash. I'm worried about her and if the only way to get her out of Watchtower and into a relaxing bed is by lying to her, than so be it. I'll take the bullet if she finds out."

There was a short pause while Victor debated. Oliver crossed his fingers and prayed that Vic had noticed how tired and strung out Chloe was.

"Dude, if she comes after me, I'm blaming you," Victor said darkly.

A grin split Oliver's face. "I totally owe you."

"Damn right you do. I'll send Chloe a text and then I'm getting out of here before she gets her hands on me."

Oliver chuckled. "I'll let you know when it's safe to come back."

"Yeah, yeah. You do realize that she'll probably kill you if she finds out you were behind this, right?"

"I'm willing to risk it," Oliver said dryly. "But she's going to kill herself if she doesn't stop this."

"Point," Victor conceded. "I'm gonna finish what I'm doing and clear out of here. Good luck."

"I'm gonna need it," Oliver sighed, staring at the phone and the blinking "call ended."

* * *

><p>Coffee had stopped working two days ago, the day Oliver had finally been released from the hospital. She was still mainlining it like there was no tomorrow, but it wasn't doing any good. She was running on vapors and it was only a matter of time before she crashed. Only her iron will was keeping her going. She actually hadn't meant to end up back at Watchtower that night, but Lois had bailed on her and she hadn't been ready to go back to the penthouse. That had been almost three hours ago.<p>

Chloe rubbed a hand over her eyes, trying to focus on the computer screen that was blurring in front of her. She was exhausted, but she couldn't bring herself to call it a night. There was too much that needed to be done. With Victor finally back in Metropolis they'd managed to cobble together enough of the hardware to allow them to access the database. It would still be slow until the entire system was operating again, but it would work in the mean time.

Taking another sip of her useless coffee, she narrowed her eyes and gazed more closely at the screen, expertly sifting through the data in the hopes of finding the Kandorians.

She was so focused that she didn't even hear the soft chime signaling the arrival of another member of the team. It wasn't until the doors flew open, startling her so badly that she almost dropped her coffee, that she realized she was no longer alone.

Gingerly wiping hot coffee off her pants, Chloe turned to yell at Clark, the only person who would be bursting into Watchtower at that hour. But it wasn't Clark standing in front of her. It was Oliver.

He was dressed only in sweatpants, with no shirt. One arm was draped across his chest, over the bandage. His breathing was labored and with every breath, pain creased his face. But it did nothing to wash away the anger that shone from his eyes.

"What are you doing?" Chloe demanded worriedly. She quickly dried off her hands and started toward him. "You should be in bed, resting. You're going to get an infection."

"I'm fine," he hissed leaning heavily against a table and glaring at her. "What the hell are _you_ doing?"

She frowned in surprise and confusion, unable to understand why he seemed so angry. "I'm trying to track down the Kandorians and fix Watchtower," she said slowly, almost sure that he'd known that's what she was doing.

"Do you even care that you're going to kill yourself?" Oliver snapped.

More confused than ever, she just stared at him. He took a shaky step toward her, silently cursing his weakness.

"You've barely slept in two weeks, I haven't seen you eat anything, you're constantly researching, and I've hardly seen you in two days. I'm worried about you, Chloe. And I'm not the only one."

Chloe pursed her lips. It wouldn't be the first time a friend had intervened because they thought she was spending too much time in Watchtower. First Dr. Fate had warned her that she was headed toward madness, then J'onn had said something to the same effect. Even Lois, who had no idea that Watchtower even existed, let alone that Chloe ran it, had complained repeatedly that Chloe spent too much time working. She'd thought that Oliver understood. The last thing she needed was a lecture from him.

"I'm fine," she said shortly.

Oliver forced his temper back. He'd known when he left the penthouse to drag Chloe back with him that it was going to be a fight. She'd spent years building up her defenses. He hadn't realized just how long she had been building them until he'd started breaking them down. Chloe had been using her work to hide her emotions since high school. It wasn't going to be easy to convince her to take a step back, even if it was for her own good, and losing his temper wasn't going to help things.

"Have you looked in the mirror lately? You're a mess, Chloe. You can't keep going like this. I know Emil's spoken to you. Why won't you listen?"

"Because I know my limits," Chloe snapped. "I know what I can and cannot do. We're on the brink of war with a psychotic, superpowered alien. I'm not about to take a nice, relaxing vacation."

"That's not what I'm suggest-"

"I'm the only one who knows how to access all of the databases, especially with them locked in the secure servers," she ranted on. "I triggered the meltdown, so I have to go through the protocols to unlock the information. Without access to the databases, we don't stand a chance of figuring out the Kandorian's next move. I'm also the only one who stands a chance of getting Clark to see sense and help us. I can't just leave and hope someone else will take care of everything for me-"

"Then don't!" Oliver shouted, cutting through her monologue. Chloe stared at him, taken aback by the outburst.

Oliver staggered forward a little further. "Don't you get it?" he asked softly, his voice tinged with desperation. "If you keep pushing yourself like this, you're going to do yourself harm. You're going to get sick, or pass out, or who knows what. If that happens, the team will be left without Watchtower."

"I'll be fine," Chloe repeated, a little less firmly than before, as if she wasn't sure that she believed it. "Even if something did happen to me, you'd manage. Victor could take over Watchtower. Or Emil could. Either one of them have the computer skills necessary."

"Do you really think you're expendable?" Oliver asked incredulously. He'd always known that Chloe was insecure, despite her outward confidence.

When Chloe didn't answer, he grabbed her arms and pulled her around to face him. "You are not replaceable," he hissed. "You're the only person who can talk code with Victor. No one else can talk to AC about his environmental protests and fish rights without losing their mind. You put up with Bart's flirting and get him to actually focus for more than two minutes. You, Chloe Sullivan, not anyone else, pulled my sorry ass out of the gutter and got me to be a hero again. We would be a mess without you."

"No you wouldn't," she said bitterly. "The guys got along just fine without me around. One of them would have helped you if I hadn't."

"The guys may have gotten along, but you get them, you get us all on a level that no one else does. Why can't you believe that?"

Chloe pulled herself free of his grip and looked away. "All I'm good for is sifting through data and keeping an eye on things from Watchtower and anyone can do that."

"Then why is it that no one thought to run an op from the command center in my penthouse until you did?" Oliver challenged. "Why is it that whenever one of the guys has to cover for you they you can't be our eye in the sky that they can't wait to hand control back to you? It's not because they're bored. It's because they can't do everything you do. No one can put the pieces together the way you can. Someone else can sit in this room and watch these monitors, but no one can be there for us the way you are."

Tears started to stream down Chloe's cheeks, try though she might to hold them at bay. She wasn't used to anyone telling her that she was worth something to them.

And Oliver wasn't even finished. "You are my best friend, the person I trust with everything. You know me better than anyone, even the guys. No one is just going to replace you. That would be impossible."

Her only answer was a quiet sob.

Once more, Oliver closed the distance between them and pulled her toward him, cradling her cheek with one hand. "You told me that if I went out on patrol in my current state and got myself killed the team would be a mess because they would blame themselves for not having my back. Don't you realize that if you work yourself into an early grave, they're going to blame themselves for not being here to help you? Bart will be heartbroken if something happens to you and if Victor thinks that he could have done something by being here instead of on his mission, he'll never forgive himself. You're just as important to the team as anyone else. I know you think that you're helping all of us by working yourself to death, but you're not."

Chloe pulled away. She needed space. She needed to think, but Oliver didn't let her. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her back around, his other hand going to her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye.

"The team needs you, Chloe. I need you. Don't push us away and don't hurt yourself for our benefit."

She began to tremble as his words finally hit home and she realized that everything everyone had said to her had been right. Instinctively, Oliver folded her in his arms, pulling her against him. His chest protested when the movement put pressure on his burn, but he didn't care. Chloe needed him and that was all that mattered.

Chloe sobbed into his chest. "I don't know what else to do. This is the only way I know to help."

Gently, Oliver cupped her face in his hands, wiping her tears away with his thumbs. "You can help by taking care of yourself. Come back to the penthouse with me and take a few days off. Get some rest. I'm not the only one who needs to heal here."

"All right," Chloe said softly. "I'll tell Victor not to come in for a few days."

A crooked grin slowly pulled at Oliver's lips. "Actually, I talked him into taking a few days off. That was my original plan for convincing you to take a break."

"What exactly made you think that risking your life would work better to convince me?" Chloe asked, a slight laugh in her voice.

"Drama queen," he teased. "When you didn't come back, I got pretty desperate. I was worried about you."

She looked up at him guiltily. "I'm sorry. I just...this is all I know to do. I didn't mean to worry you, especially now."

"It's worth it," he murmured, pressing a kiss to her temple. "Let's get out of here."

Chloe nodded and pulled away long enough to shut down the computers. "Did you drive here?" she asked.

He let out a short, humorless chuckle. "I tried, but I couldn't get behind the wheel. So I called Bart. When I told him that it was an emergency and he had to get me over here for your sake, he was more than willing to help."

"Of course he was," Chloe chuckled. "Well I have my car. We'll take that. I'll drop you off before I head back to Smallville."

"No," Oliver said abruptly. "Stay with me. I need to know that you're actually taking it easy and letting yourself recover from everything that's happened. I can't spend the next three days worrying about you. If anyone asks questions, you can just tell them that you're keeping an eye on me."

She hesitated slightly. Truth be told, spending a few days with Oliver while they both healed sounded like just what she needed. Carefully looping her arm around his waist, she pulled him toward the door. "If you insist," she said, rolling her eyes. "I'll stay with you."

They walked out of Watchtower in silence. Chloe helped Oliver into the car and drove to the penthouse. He leaned against her heavily as they walked across the lobby and over to the elevator. He was absolutely exhausted. Sleep was tugging insistently at his consciousness and he felt almost dead on his feet. Chloe helped him to his bed and gently laid him back on the pillows. He was nearly asleep, but still awake enough to notice when Chloe tried to leave the room. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.

"Where are you going?" he mumbled sleepily.

She raised an eyebrow. "To bed. Where else?"

"Stay," he whispered. "Stay with me."

Chloe shook her head, an anxious expression crossing her face. "No. I don't want to hurt you."

"If you don't, I'm going to spend the entire night tossing and turning and wondering if you're actually taking care of yourself," he threatened.

Chloe pursed her lips. If she hadn't believed that Oliver would do just that, she'd have told him to stop being a drama queen and would have just gone to bed. But she was well accustomed to his overprotective nature. If he thought that she was pushing herself too hard - and he obviously thought she was, never mind the fact that he was right - he really would spend the entire night worrying about her. Considering how that could affect his recovery, she was willing to bite the bullet.

It didn't help that she was craving his touch as much as he seemed to be craving hers. Chloe's strength of will was not what it used to be.

Sighing, she sank down on the edge of the bed and gave him a disgruntled look. "Fine. But if you try anything, and I mean _anything_, I will not only leave the bedroom, I will leave the penthouse and you'll be on your own for the duration of your recovery. Got it?"

"Got it," he said meekly, impressed with the magnitude of her threat. "So will you come to bed with me now?"

She rolled her eyes and kissed him gently on the lips. "Just give me a minute to change."

Unable to suppress a grin, Oliver pulled her down for a harder kiss, only letting her go when they were both panting for breath. "Be quick," he whispered huskily.

Her eyes were slightly unfocused, but Chloe nodded. She rose from the bed, slipping out of the room to change into her pajamas. He watched her go, a smile playing across his lips even as his eyes drifted closed.

* * *

><p>Waking slowly, Chloe realized that she felt more rested that she had in a long time. Something was different. She couldn't quite put her finger on way, but she wasn't complaining. It would take torture to get her to admit it, but she'd been exhausted.<p>

Sunlight was warming her face. She snuggled into the blankets, burying her face into what she thought was her pillow. Instead, she found that she was pressed against warm male skin. Chloe blinked in confusion and looked up to see Oliver watching her with a small smile on his lips.

"Morning," he whispered.

In answer, she leaned up and gently kissed him on the jaw.

"How did you sleep?" he asked.

"Better," she admitted. "You?"

"Best night's sleep I've had in ages."

There was a slight pause where they just laid together, enjoying the presence of the other. Oliver ran his hand up and down her arm. He'd missed being able to touch her like. She may have been right there beside him while he was in the hospital, but aside from holding hands, there had been nothing they could do. She wouldn't allow anything else, aside from small kisses. He'd missed being close to her. Just as much as she'd missed being with him.

After a moment, Chloe broke the silence. "I'm sorry for worrying you," she whispered. "I know I've been pushing myself too hard lately and I should have seen what that was doing to myself, to you, and to the team."

"It's not your fault," he assured her. "Every member of this team has a problem with recognizing their own mortality. We should have realized that you weren't exempt from that. I'm not the only member of the team that's been wounded lately. The road to recovery is a long one. It will be slow, full of potholes, twists, and turns. But you won't be going alone. We'll healing together in body and spirit. If we're lucky, we'll come out even better than before."

Chloe let out a happy laugh, moving closer to him and carefully wrapping her arm around his lower waist. "When did you come so poetic?"

"It's always been there," he grinned. "I just needed you to bring it out."

She laughed again. Maybe he was right. Maybe she had been trying to do things on her own for too long.

Grinning up at the man that she was pretty sure she was falling in love with, Chloe realized that it didn't matter if Oliver was right or wrong. What mattered was that she wasn't alone anymore.


	4. One Step at a Time

**Title**: Fading Scars

**Rating**: PG, some mature themes and mild language. Nothing too serious though. Subject to change.

**Summary**: Chloe keeps vigil at Oliver's bedside, trying to deal with her emotions, after he is branded by Zod.

**Warning**: None at this point in time, but I only have a rough outline for the fic, so that may change. Also, because this fic is so rough, I have no idea how quick updates will be.

**Spoilers**: Season 9, specifically Sacrifice

**Disclaimer**: I don't own any of the Smallville characters. I'm just playing with them. Please don't sue.

_Author's Note: This chapter is not beta'd. I'm back at college and the amount of work I have is absolutely ridiculous. The fact that I managed to finish this is a miracle, so I wanted to go ahead and post it without a delay. I haven't had time to write in ages because I've been trying to so hard to keep up with my work. I've not abandoned any of my fics and will write as soon as I can. That being said, I will focus on the fic I'm writing for the SV Big Bang. I need to get it finished so I can get it beta'd before the posting deadline. Thanks for bearing with me. I hope you enjoy!_

* * *

><p>One Step at a Time<p>

In one smooth movement, Oliver drew back on the bow and released an arrow. It spun through the air, landing solidly in the exact center of the target. He smiled.

The burn on his chest was finally healed. Thanks to Emil, the scar was barely visible and would swiftly fade. Oliver was usually quite proud of his battle scars as he felt they were evidence of the battles he'd fought for the less fortunate, but he was actually glad that he wouldn't have to explain it away. The cuts and bruises and smaller scars were easy to lie about. With it's distinctive shape, he'd have never come up with a convincing story. But more than that, he was glad that Chloe wouldn't have to see it. He didn't like the thought of her having to see that kind of reminder of how close he'd come to dying at Zod's hand.

Oliver sighed and set his bow aside. He didn't want to push himself, or think about Zod. If he kept practicing, that was inevitably where his mind would end up. He'd been quite successful in forgetting that they were on the brink of war with a bunch of aliens. During the past several weeks, he and Chloe had only occupied themselves with league business when necessary and that rarely went beyond reading the briefings that Victor prepared for them.

He walked out to the kitchen where Chloe was making a pot of coffee. It was too late in the evening for most people to be filling their systems with caffeine, but she was going back to Watchtower for the first time in almost three weeks and she was definitely going to need the help staying awake.

Walking across the room with silent steps, Oliver closed the distance between them and slid his arms around her waist. She didn't even start. She just leaned back and rested her head against his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" she asked. "I thought you were back there practicing."

"I was. Now I'm not."

"I see that. So what are you doing?"

"Hugging you."

Se laughed at that. "Thank you so much for pointing out the obvious."

"You're welcome. I'm just here to help."

"Well if you want to do that, then you can let go of me so that I can make a mug of coffee. I've got to be at Watchtower in less than an hour and I want a little bit of coffee in my system before I get there."

Oliver rolled his eyes, but complied and let her go. Settling back in a chair, he watched her bustle about the kitchen. It was one of the things he'd loved most about having her around the past few weeks. She'd become at home in the penthouse, just as he had hope she would. Oliver loved watching her putter around doing whatever it was that she was doing at the moment. It felt...normal.

Cup of coffee in her hands, Chloe walked over to him and sat on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist.

"You ready to go back to Watchtower tonight?" he asked.

She leaned back against him. "I think so. It's a little strange to be going back after you dragged me out. I feel like such a different person now."

"Well that was the point," Oliver chuckled, kissing her cheek. "I was worried about you before. You realize that I'm not going to let you do that again, right? It was hard enough getting you out of there the first time!"

"I'm sorry about that," Chloe murmured. "I didn't even realize how much trouble I was in until you forced me to see it. I should be thanking you for that."

He slid his hand up to her hair and pulled her down for a brief, but hard kiss. "That's what I'm here for. Someone has to watch out for Watchtower. It might as well be me. I rather like the job."

"I'm sure you do," she teased. "Especially when it means that you get me all to yourself."

"That's just a side benefit."

"One that I am sure you enjoy."

Oliver deftly took the mug from her hands and set it on the table. She cocked an eyebrow, but before Chloe could say anything, he pulled her around on his lap and kissed her. His mouth plundered hers eagerly. He broke away only when he was desperate for breath.

"I'm not denying that," he whispered, before leaning in for another kiss.

Chloe put a hand up to stop him. "Keep it in your pants, hero. I still have to go to Watchtower tonight."

"You mean we, right?"

"Oh, do I?"

"I'm not about to let you get there and realize just how much work you have to do and end up staying there all night," he said, his voice stern.

She just arched an eyebrow. "You have to go to the office tomorrow."

He rolled his eyes. "It's not like it's the first time I've pulled Green Arrow duty and gone to work."

"So you want to go to work with little sleep because you want to keep an eye on me?"

"Yes."

Her eyebrow rose higher.

"All right," Oliver conceded. "That's only one reason. I'm as restless as you are but we both know that I'm not ready to be back on patrol. I need to do something to help or I'll go crazy."

"So you were hoping to co-pilot the missions tonight?"

He nodded.

Chloe smiled and kissed him lightly. "Sounds like fun."

* * *

><p>Victor had done an amazing job putting Watchtower back together. It looked like nothing had happened. After filling in for Chloe for the past three weeks, he'd been given the next several nights off.<p>

Most of the team was still scattered across the globe. Bart was in town to keep an eye on the crime since he could get wherever he was needed in just a few seconds. Everything was set up so that the rest of them, including the old members of JSA, would check in while Chloe was on duty and helping Clark and Bart with their patrolling.

Chloe and Oliver walked into the Watchtower command center side by side. She immediately walked over the main console and typed in her computer codes. Slipping the comm into her hear, she spoke two words that had more power to turn Oliver on that just about anything else.

"Watchtower, online."

He walked up beside her and put on his own comm device. Sliding his arm around her waist, he said, "Green Arrow, online."

A few seconds passed before Bart's voice sounded in their ears. "Bossman! 'licious! It's good to have you two back. Tinman was driving me crazy. He has no sense of humor when he's telling me what to do."

"He was just doing his job, Impulse," Chloe said reprovingly. She sound quite a lot like a mother scolding a child. Oliver loved it.

"No, he was doing your job and you do it much better," Bart pouted.

"Impulse," Oliver sighed. "What's your status?"

After grumbling under his breath, Bart quickly recounted what had happened so far that night. He hadn't run into much trouble, just the usual crimes. Oliver could tell that he was bored. Doing the same thing over and over every night was hard on Bart's tiny attention span.

Oliver watched the crime radar and walked Bart through his patrol, leaving Chloe free to work on searching for the Kandorians. She contacted AC, Dinah, Courtney, and Carter, who were all in different places across the globe, looking for any signs of Zod and his followers. They hadn't found anything.

After a while, she ended the conversation and focused on her own research. They had talked about the Kandorians a little bit during their recovery period. Chloe had mentioned at one point that she didn't think Zod would go very far. She thought that Clark was his main target as much as anything else and that Zod would want to be sure that Clark was one of the first to face the fury of their attack. Oliver thought she was right. That didn't make it any easier to track them down.

They worked companionably, rarely speaking to each other. When Clark signed on, Oliver led him through patrol as well. It had taken quite a bit of work to get the other man on board with the Watchtower, but he'd eventually started coordinating patrols and actually working with them. More than once, Oliver wished that he was the one out there. He knew that Bart and Clark could handle it. He just wanted to help. Every time he started to get anxious, Chloe would lay her hand on his arm to calm him and he'd remember why he wasn't pushing himself to get out there. He was trying to set an example for her.

When Clark finished his patrol, Oliver signed off and glanced at the clock. It was almost one o'clock in the morning. That wasn't unusual for either of them when they were on duty. They often stayed up several hours longer. But he didn't want to encourage her to fall into the same pattern of behavior as before.

"We should go," he suggested.

Chloe looked up from her computer screen. Her eyes found the clock and she frowned sightly, as though realizing that Oliver was trying to hurry her out the door. Knowing how eager she'd been to get back to work, he braced himself for an argument.

"Just give me a minute to finish this," she said. "The search can run itself once I finish putting in the parameters."

His mouth almost fell open, but he didn't say anything. He wasn't about to press his luck. One thing he'd learned about Chloe was not to question when she did the opposite of what you expected. Especially when what she had done was what you wanted. If you said anything, she'd end up doing what you had expected her to do in the first place and you'd end up where you'd thought you'd been in the first place.

Not five minutes later, Chloe logged out of Watchtower and walked over to where he was standing across the room, looking out the window at the city. She leaned against him.

"You ready?"

Oliver nodded, but didn't move. Chloe followed his gaze out the window.

"Thinking about when you can get back out there?" she asked, despite already knowing the answer. Oliver just nodded. "I'm surprised you haven't been training harder," she said slowly.

He glanced down to see her gazing up at him with questioning eyes. Oliver shrugged. "I want to be out there. You know I do. But, well, considering how much grief I've been giving you about taking it slow and not pushing yourself out of a misguided sense of responsibility, I thought I should take it slow myself."

There was a beat of silence and then Chloe sighed. "You are an idiot. You don't need to slow down your own recovery to teach me a lesson. You accomplished that weeks ago. The team needs Green Arrow as much as it needs Watchtower. Whatever you think about me and my problems, you should be doing everything you can to get back out there. I've learned my lesson and you'll be here to remind me of it if I forget. So stop being an idiot and get your sorry ass back in shape, Arrow!"

Chloe smacked his arm lightly in mock admonishment before grabbing his hand and tugging him toward the door. Oliver rolled his eyes and fixed a grin on his face. He allowed her to pull him along while he was lost in his thoughts.

_What if I told you that wasn't the only reason I'm stalling? _he imaged telling her. _What if I told you that I love spending so much time doing normal, mundane things with you? I don't want to go back to living in an empty penthouse knowing that the only time I'll see you is when you come over for League business or when we're going to sleep together. I'm going to miss being around you with out sex or heroism being on the agenda. I want you to stay so that you'll realize that I love you and let me in so we can stop doing this stupid friends with benefits thing and actually be in a real relationship._

If only he could tell her in reality.

* * *

><p>Chloe glanced over at Oliver, who had been unusually quiet since they'd left Watchtower. She hadn't said anything. It wasn't the first time that he'd lapsed into deep thought in the past few weeks. She'd thought it was just because he'd been worried about the team and not being out there with them. Now that she knew he'd been going easy on his training because of her, she wasn't so sure what was going on.<p>

Knowing that he was ignoring the movie that they had put on to relax to, Chloe turned down the volume and crawled over to him.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Oliver snapped out of his thoughts. "Hm?"

"What's wrong?" she repeated more slowly.

"Nothing," he assured her.

"I don't believe you."

"There's nothing wrong, Chloe. I'm just thinking about training again."

"No you're not. I've seen you when you're thinking about new routines to try. You look more excited. Right now you look..." she searched for the right word for a moment. "You look pensive," she finally decided.

Oliver chuckled weakly. "I was thinking about training. But I was also thinking about everything I'm going to have to do when I get back to the office tomorrow. I'm going to be buried in paperwork for the next ten years."

That wasn't the whole answer. After all the time she'd spent with him and dragging his ass out of the gutter, Chloe knew when he was telling the truth, when he was lying, and when he was telling a half truth. She couldn't explain how she knew, she just did. Whatever was bothering him was more than he let on. She was surprised by how much it hurt to realize that he wouldn't tell her.

She slid her hand down his arm and wove their fingers together. "Why don't we get some sleep then?"

"That sounds good," he murmured.

Chloe started to stand, but Oliver rose faster and pulled her into his arms, carrying her bridal style. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face against his skin. The feeling of being in his arms was something she would never get used to. It was the most amazing feeling of being safe and wanted, something she hadn't felt in a very long time. It had surprised her how much she'd enjoyed living with him for the past few weeks. She'd felt a sense of normalcy in her life that had been gone for years. It had scared her a little bit at first, but then she'd realized just how much she liked it.

They reached the bedroom and Oliver gently laid her on the bed. She crawled under the sheets, holding them up so that he could slide in beside her. He pulled her into his side. She curled into him, resting her hand over his heart.

In a matter of moments, she heard his breathing slow. Careful not to stir too much, she glanced up to make sure that he was really asleep. Seeing that he was, she laid her head back down.

"I don't know what you're going to me," she whispered. "I'd all but given up on actually being in a relationship with someone, so I came up with with this no strings attached arrangement. The only thing is, I think I've got more strings with you than I ever had with anyone else. And I don't care. It scares me more than I can possibly tell you, but I've realized that we're not just sex buddies. You're my best friend and you're so much more than that. You've become this anchor in my life. You've literally saved my life. I feel alive again because of you. I can't help feel like this is going to end badly, but I just don't care anymore."

Oliver stirred in his sleep, his arm slid up her side, dangerously close to her breasts. Her breath shuddered in her chest. She moved closer so that she was whispering in his ear.

"I think I love you, Ollie."


End file.
